


Singularity

by agent_orange



Category: Firefly
Genre: F/F, Femslash, First Time, Loss of Virginity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-15
Updated: 2010-03-15
Packaged: 2017-10-08 00:36:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/70904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agent_orange/pseuds/agent_orange
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It happens so often that Kaylee gets used to River sidling up behind her all slow and cautious-like; she doesn’t hear the quiet footsteps over the whir of the engine.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Singularity

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thanks to my wonderful beta, [**queenzulu**](http://queenzulu.livejournal.com/).

Before Inara starts renting a shuttle, it makes Kaylee feel useful--she ain't working at her papa’s engine shop no more. And strong. Like she belongs with Jayne and Mal, who came back from jobs with sweaty faces and scuffed-up boots and _coin_\--ten percent, right off the top, for her. It doesn't much matter that she soils her clothes--they weren't nothing nice in the first place. 'Sides, Wash and Zoe are having some little fling; the Cap'n...well, he's shiny, but not her type. And he'd made it clear that he "wouldn't touch a pretty thing like you." As the only one interested, Jayne wouldn't much care about what Kaylee wears--just what's underneath. She'll never give him a chance to see, though.

She expects the Companion to waltz in, all high and mighty, and act like she owns the place. After all, what Kaylee knows about Companions is just stories--no one on Heinlein could've afforded someone like her. She's only seen the common whores, spilling out of short skirts and tops that Kaylee coulda swore she’d bought as bras. No, Companions were nothing like that. All classy and dolled-up.

Sure, Inara seems nice enough, but she's a silk-wrapped mystery. And a little intimidating, too; Kaylee's never seen someone so beautiful before. She takes a liking to Kaylee most of all, though, inviting her for tea and offering to fix her hair.

Kaylee's too scared to sit with her for tea, for fear of ruining how perfect everything is. Inara washes her face and ties her hair back and dresses her up real pretty, and Kaylee soaks up every moment of it. When she's with Inara, she's playing at being someone else, if only for a few hours; trading her cargoes for brightly-colored saris and letting her hair free.

"You look beautiful, _mei_-_mei_." Inara smoothes a hand over Kaylee's brushed-back hair.

"Really?" She feels funny: torn-up jumpsuit held together by thread and patches, and hair brushed free of knots, hands clenched around a delicate china cup.

"Of course," Inara says.

Never feels like herself, though. Never feels _comfortable_, even with Inara calling her honey and petting down between her shoulderblades and complimenting her. Not like that stops her from her frequent visits. Just makes her think a little about finding someone more...like herself.

'Course, that plan goes right out of her head when Simon shows up. The heart wants what it wants, and Kaylee can't help it if she falls for someone who's all citified. Problem is, he's all uptight and fumbly-like. Don't know how to act around a girl. He never thinks about the consequences of his words, neither. Can't really be his fault, though--all that time studying; no time for anyone other than River. Kaylee understands that he has to take care of River, she really does, but the girl has her good days now and again, and Simon sure looks like he could use a break, y'know? Talking to someone who'll listen and not have an episode mid-conversation.

He can't be too busy with her to not notice when she wanders off, because River starts showing up in the engine room. Poking her nose and staying for hours, sitting cross-legged on the floor, watching with childlike fascination. Makes Kaylee feel like something special. She just nods as Kaylee rambles on about catalyzers and the grav boot, trying to work out how everything fits together and makes the ship run smoothly. "They shouldn't..." she starts, but ends up going cross-eyed as the wheels turn in her head. Kaylee laughs.

It happens so often that Kaylee gets used to River sidling up behind her all slow and cautious-like; she doesn’t hear the quiet footsteps over the whir of the engine. And then, all calmly, "In extreme cases, unrequited love can be fatal." She rests her head on Kaylee's shoulder. "Don't want you to die."

Kaylee's a little taken aback, but rightly so, she supposes. "Aw, River, sweetie, I ain't gonna..."

"He doesn't see. Everything spins around and he doesn't know where to look. You're not the same."

"That so?" Kaylee smiles. "I ain't been told that before."

"Must be him." She turns Kaylee's cheek, smoothing her thumb over the smear of grit. "It's too warm in here, though," all the while lowering herself into the hammock, pulling Kaylee close.

"Well, _that_ ain't gonna help!"

"The heart is extremely ill-advised. Atriums and ventricles and blood--it flows through, but never analyzes."

River starts to step out of her clothes; they come off easy: shirt, one of Kaylee's old skirts, panties, but no bra. (Sometimes she forgets.)

"What are you doing?" Kaylee asks, and River just looks annoyed that Kaylee hasn't caught on yet.

"It's too warm in here," she replies. "Your turn." Her voice is all _prim_, and she's just standing there_ naked_, unashamed.

_Confidence is good_, Kaylee muses absentmindedly. _She’s just goin' after what she wants, and can just...say so_. River ain't Simon, but...maybe that’s a _good_ thing. Kaylee'd be good with someone straightforward and honest--riles her up a bit. She's never thought of River like this, though, but as someone she should look after. Play around with, sure, but not _this_ kind of playing. Plus, River's kinda a loose cannon of sorts; she could shoot at any moment, and that scares Kaylee just the slightest bit. She wants to do this, and she also don't wanna make River mad by not doing anything.

"Won't do anything bad," River says, and gets Kaylee's jumpsuit and the like off. Flushed, hair sweaty and sticking to the back of her neck, nipples hard from heat and arousal, and wetness starting between her thighs--River's eyes go wide. Still, Kaylee's not entirely sure. "I...don't want to _hurt_ you." River can shoot better 'n Jayne, but she’s so delicate. Bird-boned, almost; all sharp angles and edges to Kaylee's soft curves.

One of River's pale hands coming up to rest lightly on Kaylee's shoulder. "Want..." her lips brush the corner of Kaylee's mouth. River doesn't kiss like Inara. Curious, playful, sweet--expert in her inexperience. Kaylee thinks she can probably teach her a few things, but River picks up fast, matching Kaylee's pace and taking the lead not long after. Her hands are like they're everywhere all at once: tangling in Kaylee's hair, rubbing along her cheek, on the slope of her back.

The girl’s stronger than she looks, because the next thing Kaylee knows, she’s on her back on the brightly-colored panels of fabric, and River’s dark head is ducking down to trace a trail with her tongue. Her hips arch up against River’s hands as a puff of hot breath tickles her quim. 

Kaylee’s legs are hooked over River’s shoulders--River guided them there for easier access. They’re smeared with dirt and grit, rubbing darkness on the smooth paleness of River’s skin, but River doesn’t seem to care at all. She's a little unfocused, inexperienced, but she more than makes up for it with eagerness. Kaylee curls her hands in that dark mess of waves, trying not to tug as River circles a thumb over her clit. When that fails, she just tries not to tug too hard, especially when she starts to feel like the ground’s fallen beneath her and she’s floating away.

Kaylee doesn't mind when River kisses her, tasting herself on that deliberately probing tongue. It’s not a _bad_ taste, and after all, River had her face _buried_ there not a few minutes earlier. Kaylee opens her eyes, smiles, and shifts their positions so that River is on her back.

"Have you ever...?" Leaning down to suck at one of River's small dark nipples.

She shakes her head. "Boys on Osiris were...not adequate and...girls didn't... No time, and then..." (_There was the Academy_\--Kaylee doesn't have to be a Reader to know that's what River means.) "Fingers...weren't enough, and there was nothing--_Kaylee_!" Crying out when Kaylee eases two fingers inside her as gently as she can. 

Kaylee freezes, pulls back. "River, did I hurt ya?" Petting one hand through the dark tangle of her hair, soothing.

"_No_." Half-sobbed. "Want you to; keep going." Fingers scrabbling for purchase, but the sweat-sheened skin of Kaylee's back offers none. Her hips buck up, trying to force that intrusion _deeper_. Kaylee's fingers are slick with River's wetness, making it that make easier to crook them. There's still a tightness that she doesn't want to push through, though; she's not sure she feels right about taking..._that_ from someone. Considering stopping everything, putting her clothes back on and apologizing, but then River breaks the resistance and, well...since, she's already _done_ that...it don't make much sense to stop.

"It's okay." Whispered and a little raspy. "It's...incomplete if you..." River's milky-pale thighs squeezing the sides of Kaylee's face, clamping down--there's muscle on those slim legs. Squirming, sweet and shivering almost uncontrollably. River hasn't learned how to fake anything yet. All the noises she's making are new and _real_. She's beautiful like this: unwound in the best possible sense of the word, pink-cheeked, a relaxed expression on her face, and _happy_. Kaylee has to hold River’s narrow hips down so she won’t shove herself up too much and manage to get herself hurt.

Kaylee hums a little--feeling the vibration in her bones, combined with the rumble of the engine just a few yards away always makes her hot. River's face twists up, as if in pain; her lips part in a silent gasp. "Shhh," Kaylee goes, even though River hasn't made a sound.

Kaylee's fingers stain her jumpsuit when she picks it up to clean them off: grease, dirt, grime; sweat and slickness--they're visible, but she doesn't care. River just smiles, scoots closer. Curls up against Kaylee's body like a cat, humming contentedly to herself.  "Shiny," she says, as if she's saying her first word.

And everything is--the floor's hard, but Kaylee's too sated to care. They're both dirty and sticky, but if River doesn't mind it, neither does Kaylee.


End file.
